Rockies' owner says he still supports Jim Tracy, GM Dan O'Dowd

Rockies owner Dick Monfort has heard from howling fans who are fed up with the team. He said he understands their frustration. But he is not going to fire manager Jim Tracy or general manager Dan O'Dowd.

Doing so, Monfort said, would only make them fall guys and would not help snap the Rockies out of their funk.

"I have had people get in my face and say, 'You've got to do this and do that.' And believe me, I understand the fans' frustration, " Monfort told The Denver Post on Tuesday. "I know everybody wants a fall guy and everybody wants blood. I just don't think it's appropriate to do."

In fact, Monfort said he should be the one taking the brunt of the fans' anger. The NL West last-place Rockies lost 7-6 to the Marlins in Miami on Tuesday, falling to 4-16 in May and 15-27 overall. The Rockies are 40 games under .500 since late 2010.

"If this is anybody's fault, it's mine. I will take it right square between the middle of the eyes," said Monfort, who became more involved in the Rockies' baseball decisions after the death of team president Keli McGregor in April 2010.

"There is no way that we are as poor of a team as we are playing. And if we are, then I fell in love with our own guys and couldn't look through the forest to the trees. But I don't believe that's the case."

The only teams in Rockies history with worse starts were the inaugural 1993 club (12-30) and the 2005 club (13-29). The 2008 team started 15-27.

Monfort does not believe Tracy "has lost the team," because he sees the Rockies playing hard. O'Dowd, the architect of just four winning seasons and two playoff appearances in his first 12 full seasons as general manager, has Monfort's full support.

"He's a tremendous asset," Monfort said. "I can't think of a general manager in baseball that's as good as him. Granted, I don't know all of them. I do get a chance every once in a while to speak with them, but I just think (O'Dowd) is head and shoulders above everybody else."

Tracy, the National League's 2009 manager of the year, has been trying to mix aging position players with young, unproven pitchers. That formula has been a disaster.

Rockies owner Dick Monfort introduced a new concessions loft before the 2011 season. But improvements to the team have been slower to materialize. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

Asked if he believed players had quit responding to Tracy or had quit hustling, Monfort said: "He hasn't lost the team. That answers part of the question. I think Jim is grinding it just like anybody else.

He wears every loss. We had a long talk about that, and I said, 'You just have to shower up and go on.' " Monfort said the Rockies are simply going through a "brutal, brutal spell," pointing to a three-game sweep by the Braves in Denver on May 4-6 as the turning point for when things went sour.

He said the team's confidence, particularly the confidence of young pitchers, has waned ever since. But firing Tracy is not the solution.

"I know people will disagree and say they don't care (about making Tracy the fall guy), but I do care," Monfort said. "This is a man who is putting everything he's got into this team."

Those who know Monfort said he's loyal, at times to a fault. He agreed, but said his commitment to O'Dowd goes beyond loyalty.

"I have spent almost my entire baseball career with Dan and I think he is the most brilliant guy I have ever met," Monfort said. "We have made mistakes along the way, but there is not a guy that works harder than him. There is not a guy that cares more than he does. He doesn't think he knows it all. He doesn't pretend that he knows it all, and questions himself all the time."

Rockies relief pitcher John Axford, who hasn't pitched for the team since last Wednesday, was forced to leave spring training camp after his 2-year-old son was bit by a rattlesnake twice in his right foot.

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